James cowgill



(No Model.)

J. OOWGILL.

. LOOM. N0.v375,13'1. Patented Dee. 20, 1887.

N. PETERS. PhnlwLxlhugmpher, Wnihngtan. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES COWGILL, VOF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

LOOM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 375,131, dated Decemberd, 188,7,

Application led March 7, 1887. Serial No. 229,958. (No model.)

and to steady the shuttlein its movement across the lay.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an end elevation of so muchot' a loom as is necessary for the understanding of my invention, and myinvention attached thereto; Fig. 2, a front elevation of part oftheloom-frame, the lay and its usual appurtenances, and a shuttle on saidlay, the picker-sticks, piekerstraps, picker-levers, the cams whichoperate them, the driving-pulley, theloose pulley, the

dagger-rod, the warp-beam, and my improvements; Fig. 3, a side elevationof the beamhead gear, the gear on the frictionpulley,and theintermediate gear which connects said gears; Fig. 5t, a section on theline x min Fig. l; Fig. 5, a section on the line y y in Fig. 1.

The frame A, lay B, its beam b, lay-shaft b', pickersticks C C', theso-called Stearns parallel motion77 c, the shuttle-bindersDD, theirpivots d d', the shuttle-boxes E E', the warpbeam F, main shaft G, fastand loose pulleys g g', cranks g2, connected by pitmen g3 to the lay,the cam-shaft H, provided with cams 7i h', picker-levers I I', providedwith shoes it" and pivoted at their rear ends to the frame A,andconnected to the picker-sticks C C by pickerstraps J J, and thepicker-strap rolls j j', are all of the usual construction andoperation.

In Fig. 2 the shuttle is represented as mov-4 ing from right to left.Ordinarily'the shuttle enters the shuttle-box against the resistance ofthe binder, which is pressed backward toward the back of the shuttle-boxby a stiff spring, and the shuttle is driven out of the shuttle-box bythe picker (not shown) attached to the picker-stick, near the upper endof the same, striking the end of the shuttle with a force sufficient toovercome not only the inertia of the shuttle,but the friction of theshuttlebox and binder.

I dispense with the binderspring and push the binder inward by meanshereinafter described, and just previous to the striking of the shuttleby the picker I release the binder.

The picker-straps which connect the pickersticks and their respectivepicker-levers pass under the rolls j j in the usual manner, so that wheneither picker-lever is raised in the usual mannerv by the revolution ofthe cam-shaft H its pickerstrapdraws the upper end of the picker-stickto which it is connected inward, or toward the middle of the lay, andthrows the shuttle before it out of one box and into the other. When thefrontend of the picker lever falls, the picker-strap slackens and theupper end of the pickenstrap is thrown outward by means of a spring, c',roll c?, and strap c3 of the Stearns parallel motion.

On the rod K, which forms the pivot of each of the rolls j j', turns abalance or lever L L', the inner end of which lever reaches under apicker-lever, and to the outer end of v which is pivoted a roll, Z,immediately below and incontact with the picker-strap. Vhen thepickerlstick is thrown outward,as above described, the roll Zpressesagainst the pickerstrap and draws the picker stick inward slightly, outof contact with the outer end of the picker-stick slot, the picker-leverat this time resting upon the inner arm of said lever L. When theshuttle, after entering the shuttie-box, strikes the picker anddrives'it back toward the end of the slot in which the pickerstickmoves, the elasticity of the picker-strap serves to check the motion ofthe shuttle gradually, and iinally to stop it, so ,that Very littlepressure need be applied to the binders, which are intended to work soeasily as to oppose but very slight resistance to the entrance oftheshuttle into the shuttle-box, but serve to prevent the shuttle fromrebounding. The very slight pressure that is put upon the binders iscaused by the pressure ot' the daggerrod fingers M M', which, with thedagger-rod m and dagger m', are of the usual construction and turn inbrackets ml m2, secured to the lay in the usual manner. The lever L',pivoted roo on the stud of the roll j', is precisely like the lever L.The dagger-rod m is provided with two backwardly-projecting arms, N N',connected by cords n n or wires-to theinnerarms of the balances orlevers L L. The arms N N and the inner arms of the levers L L areprovided with a series of holes or notches, ai Z2, respectively, toenable the cords or wires which connect them to be adj listed nearer toor farther from their ends to vary the amount of the pressure of thedagger-rod fingers upon the binders, said pressure being caused by theweight of the picker-levers, which alternately rest upon the inner armsof the levers LL,connected, as above sta ted, to the arms N N of thedagger-rod.

1t requires less power to throw the shuttle when the binder presseslightly upon the shuttle, and I am enabled to attach the pickingstrapnearer the top of the picker-stick, and thereby to throw the shuttlewith less force without substantially increasing the time required forthe throw of the shuttle.

In order that the shuttle may not be retarded by the varying slacknessof the warps, I find it necessary to keep the warps uniformly taut andYthe upper part of the shed out of contact with the shuttle in the race.

The friction-wheel o is secured to and turns with the gear O, whichengages the inter'- mediate gear, O', which in turn engages thebeam-head gear O, the latter being secured to the head j" of thewarp-beam F in the usual manner. Themotion of the friction-wheel isretarded by the brake P, which consists of a piece, p, concave in itsunder surface, and provided at its ends with small rolls, pj, to whichare secured ratchets p3 p".

A rope or cordp", secured to the rolls p' p2, may be drawn more or lesstaut by turning said rolls, which are prevented from turning backward bypawls pspi, pivoted on said piece p and engaging said ratchet.

The tension of the cord is varied by winding or unwinding, to allow itto have a greater or less contact with the periphery of saidfriction-wheel, and thereby to create a greater or less frictionthereon. The brake is provided with an upward projection, p8, providedwith a slot, p, to allow the rod K to extend through saidprojection,.and to allow said projection to rise and fall on said rod.The projection ps and brake P are prevented from moving along on saidrod K by nuts lc 7s and checknuts k2 k, which engage a screw-thread onsaid rod, but which are not turned up close enough to the projection p8-to prevent the brake from rising and falling'on said rod to vary thefriction between the brake and the wheel, as hereinafter described. Therod K slides longitudinally in brackets c c on the frame A, so that thedrawing of the warps from the warp-beam causes the gears O O Ol torevolve in the direction shown by the arrows ymarked on them, and causesthe friction-wheel to revolve and by friction on the brake to slide therod K forward.

The rod K is provided with two fingers, 7c* 765, provided with collarsk6 k7, which surround said rod and are adjustable thereon by means ofset-screws las k. When the rodKis moved endwise out of its normalposition, one or the othe of the fingers 7a4 h5 will be struck by thecam 7L, which operates one of the picker-levers, and the rod will berestored to position. The fingers 7a* las are so arranged on the rod Kas not to be struck by the cam h when the rod K is in its normalposition. The pressure, and consequently the friction, of the brake uponthe friction-wheel may be varied by moving the weight Q on the lever q,the latter being pivoted at its front end at q on a bracket, q2, securedto the frame A, said lever q having a downward projection, q, whichrests upon the top of the projection p8 ofthe brakep, the weight Q beingplaced at the outer or rear end of the lever q when the beam is full,and afterward, as the beam is gradually emptied, being moved by handtoward the fulcrum q.

It will be seen that the friction of the brake on the friction-wheelretards the motion ofsaid wheel and of the gears O O' O2, the first ofsaid gears being secured to said friction-wheel and the last, O, of saidgears being secured to the head of the warp-beam, and therefore retardsthe motion of the warp-beam, and, by preventing the warps from beingunwound too rapidly from said beam keeps the warps in a proper state oftension and prevents the warps in front of the harnesses from saggingdown onto the shuttle.

A sudden slackcning or straining of the warp may cause the brake and therod K to move back or forth; butin the ordinary operation of the machinethe front inger, h5, is not likely to be struck by the cam h. A suddenexcessive strain on the warp-yarns would rotate the beam and the gearsO2 O O in the direction shown by the arrows and move the brake forwardby the friction of the frictionwheel on said brake, and the yielding orforward movement of the brake would immediately relieve the str'ain onthe warp-yarns, whereas if the brake were immovable some of thewarp-yarns would be likely to be broken by such sudden strain.

Vhen the improvements above described are used, the shuttle is lessliable to be thrown out of the race, because the upper part of the shedis held out of contact with it, and the shuttle is thrown with lessforce and with greater steadiness, and for the same reasons the warpsare less likely to be broken out.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of the picker-sticks, thepicker-levers, the picker-strap connecting said picker-sticks andpicker-levers, the pickerstrap rolls, the binders, the dagger-rod havingfingers resting against said binders and provided with arms, thebalance-levers, rolls on the outer ends of said balance-levers belowsaid picker-straps, and cords or wires connecting the inner ends of saidbalance-levers and the arms of said dagger-rods, the inner arms of saidbalance-levers being arranged to be struck by said picker-levers and topress IOO IIO

said dagger-rod fingers against said binders, the cam-shaft and its camswhich operate said picker levers, as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of the picker-sticks, the picker-levers, thepicker-straps connecting said pickersticks and picker-levers,thepickerstrap rolls, the balance-levers, rolls on the outer ends of saidlevers below said pickerstraps, the inner arms of said balance-leversbeing arranged to be struck by said pickerlevers to press the rollspivoted to the outer ends of said balance-levers against saidpickerstraps and to take up the slack of said straps, and the camshaftand its cams which operate said picker levers, as and for the purposespecified.

3. The combination of the warp-beam provided with a gear, thefriction-whee1 provided with a gear, an .intermediate gear engaging eachof said rst-named gears, the brake provided with an upward projectionslotted vermeans, subing said fingers when said rod is in its normalposition, 'and by striking said fingers when said rod is moved out ofposition by the friction of said wheel and brake on each other torestore said rod to its normal position, as and for the purposespecified.

In witness whereof I have signed this specitication in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT M. MOORE, ALEXANDER J. CAMPBELL.

